WHY SAY ANYTHING?

If it is true that Jose Mourinho’s advisors have been contacted about him taking the Manchester United job, then the appointment needs to be announced fairly quickly.

According to the Manchester Evening News, talks have been held but nothing has, as yet, been agreed. Here’s the article.

Louis van Gaal has a little bit of credit in the bank thanks to the last two wins which, in my opinion, actually say more about the players taking control than the manager.

They went out to try and prove that they are not as bad as the manager appears to want to make them look. Van Gaal’s one good decision, (if indeed it was HIS decision), was to play players in their favourite positions, particularly Juan Mata.

Anyway, back to Mourinho. Apparently his heart is set on the United job and resistance to his arrival at Old Trafford is softening. This could be due to his polite and respectful silence since he left Chelsea, which could also be seen as a display of how much he wants to be the new man at Old Trafford. It could also be, however, that his detractors have seen the lack of any success brought by their first and second choices!

Ideally, Mourinho should be announced on the day that Pep Guardiola is introduced to the City fans, assuming that will happen before the end of the season. Some of the thunder needs to be stolen back from the Etihad.

At present, United fans are going through a depression akin to the darkest days of David Moyes’ reign. A couple of wins, as mentioned earlier, has brought a whiff of the old feelgood factor back, but no more than a whiff. What is needed to really do the trick is a new manager who can deliver trophies rather than just ponitificate about how successful he used to be, what an intelligent man he is and how people need to follow his philosophies and processes.

Fortunately for United fans in general, the working-class chip on Jose Mourinho’s shoulder is one cooked by the winning of recent trophies including the Premier League and the Champion’s League, whereas van Gaal, (who just has to mention how expensive the wine bought by Ed Woodward is when he wins against another top six team), has a rather upper-class sautéed potato on his shoulder which has never really endeared him to many Manchester United supporters.

Of the two, Louis van Gaal would be far more appreciative of Roy Keane’s prawn sandwich brigade than would Jose Mourinho.

The problem is that United need to get back to their roots. I am not suggesting that the Glazer’s sell out to a meat company owned by Martin Edward’s family, but they need to get back in touch with the fans.

Handing the responsibility of football matters, particularly transfers, to somebody as football-ignorant as Ed Woodward was an amazingly bad decision. As with all successful marketing men he will be paid bonuses on contracts signed with new sponsors, so it is in his interest to find them. He will not be paid anything on transfers he concludes so, as it is not his money, he will overspend. Those are simple facts of life.

Do not be too surprised if the potential new partnership of Ed Woodward and Jose Mourinho doesn’t last too long. In fact, the end of Louis van Gaal may just see the end of Ed Woodward, in his current position at least.

If, at best, this means a Director of Football is appointed then it would be a good move. If, at worst, it sees end of countless mentions of offices in Mayfair then it will also be a good thing. Offices in Mayfair tend to make the average Manchester United fan think of betrayal rather than success. Maybe Jose Mourinho will restore some of the latter.

Only then will the club will have gone a short way in the right direction.